The Danger of Fast Trends in Plastic Surgery
In the past decade, social media and influencer culture have accelerated the pace of plastic surgery trends. From fox eye and brow lifts to ultra-high definition liposuction waistlines and buttocks, patients are increasingly seeking procedures that promise dramatic transformations, often without fully understanding the long-term implications.
While aesthetic medicine and surgery should evolve and innovate, this race to follow fast-moving trends poses real dangers.
Fast trends often prioritize appearance over anatomy
Many of these procedures are aggressively marketed for their immediate results, but they frequently ignore the patient’s natural anatomy, tissue integrity, and future aging process. What looks striking at 25 may appear distorted or unnatural by 35.
Safety is often compromised
Non-specialist providers may adopt trending techniques without adequate training, driven more by demand and profit than by patient well-being. Patients, often misled by filtered images or influencer testimonials, may undergo procedures in unsafe settings or with inadequately trained practitioners, putting them at risk for complications, poor healing, or even a lack of informed consent.
Revisions are on the rise
I’m seeing an increasing number of patients seeking correction for overdone, ill-performed, or poorly indicated procedures. Revisions are almost always more complex, carry higher risks, and come at a greater financial and emotional cost. And rarely can they restore tissues to their original state.
True aesthetic surgery is a blend of art and restraint—it requires saying no as often as yes.
As a plastic surgeon, I have an ethical obligation to guide patients away from fleeting trends and toward choices that preserve their beauty and health in the long term (that means protecting them from themselves and social media).
